Photo by Marcelo Silva on Unsplash Conflict between parents negatively affects children but for some parents it's hard to avoid conflict when separating or divorcing.  Loss, grief, and anger all make it difficult to co-parent and some parents need help overcoming those barriers. One of the professionals that can help parents reduce conflict by assisting them in making the necessary co-parenting decisions is a Co-Parenting Coordinator.  The duties of a Co-Parenting Coordinator can vary but often include assisting parents with decision making around: changes or clarifications of the existing parenting plan; exchanges of the child or children including date, time, place, means of and responsibilities for transportation; education or daycare including school choice, tutoring, summer school, before and after school care, participation in special education testing and programs, or other educational decisions; enrichment and extracurricular activities including camps and jobs; the c...

When drafting a parenting plan for separated parents of minor children, there are some basic things that should be in every plan.  These include answering the following questions: Who has decision making responsibility (also known as legal custody)? Who has residential responsibility and when? In other words, design a base parenting schedule (also known as physical custody). When can the base schedule be changed? For example including a holiday and vacation schedule. Are there any necessary agreements around communication? Are there any limitations or notification requirements related to travel with the children? How and when can the schedule be changed? What other events require notification (such as illness of a child)? What is your plan for dealing with disagreements? Some parenting plans keep these terms relatively simple and leave a lot of room for flexibility between the parents.  There are pros and cons to any choice when drafting an agreement, and a flexi...